People v. Shavers

The defendant was charged with *390open murder, but convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The circuit court sentenced him to a term of ten to fifteen years in prison. The Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction, but set aside the sentence on the grounds that the circuit judge had improperly assumed the defendant to be guilty of murder, and that the circuit court had imposed a disproportionate sentence. We reverse in part the judgment of the Court of Appeals and reinstate the judgment of the circuit court.

i

The defendant was attending a party, when a fight broke out. One of the defendant’s friends…